Almshouses
The last of the Harley Trust legacy is ‘The Residence’, a row of almshouses built again from local stone. The building is by the school, aligned at 90 to to the road. It was bequeathed from the Harley Trust in all likelihood because Thomas Harley’s third wife, Mary, was herself the widow of a rector and they were left homeless when widowed. You’ll see stunning gables and mullioned windows on this building that sits at a right angle from Church Lane. Originally, two widows were expected to share each of the three tenements, however the argumentative side of human nature prevailed and, along with the lower than expected demand for the housing, the building ended up intended for just 2 widows in total. All three of the properties that came out of Thomas Harley’s legacy were built on a piece of land curiously known as ‘Brewetts Hempleck’. The building is now a private dwelling.
Allsopps Cottage
John Allsopp was born in Hathern, Leicestershire in 1650 and died at the young age of 33 in 1683. He was instituted as the incumbent Rector at St. Peter's Church, Tollerton, Notts on the 30th May 1670, at the age of twenty, and remained so until his death. In his original will dated 8th July, 1683 he included the following bequeathment :-
'"I give and bequeath unto the hospital in Osgathorpe founded by Mr. Thomas Harley for the maintenance of a Minister's Widow, one hundred and three score pounds to be disposed of according to my free intent and meaning'.
John Allsopps endowment was used to build a cottage to house one clergyman's widow. It was erected just further along Church Lane than the existing Almshouses/Hospital but the date it was built is unclear. Information from a list of key dates compiled by David Davidson in 2003 suggests it was built in 1699, and an 1785 enclosure map indicates a building of some sort existed. However, following years of legal wrangling between Allsopp family members and the Thomas Harley Osgathorpe Charity (see 1837 Charity Commissioner's Report), it would appear that it may not have been built until shortly after 1799.
Allsopp's Cottage still exists today and is a private residence.
The sketch and article about international opera singer Rosa Alba, widow of Rev W White, who once lived at the cottage, was published in the Loughborough Echo in March 1965.
